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Chapter 174 Xiaopo's birthday - still in the garden

Collected Works of Lao She 老舍 4460Words 2018-03-20
After Nan Xing's joke was finished, not only did no one applaud, but the two Malay chicks criticized in a low voice: They have never heard such a silly story!Nan Xing heard this, although he was not angry, he felt a little unhappy.A foolish person is also a bit shrewd. This shrewdness is often discovered when people say he is muddled, and Nan Xing is the same.He thinks for a while, intends to say something that will prove that he is not "completely" confused; he admits that he is "a little" confused.He suddenly said, "I've been on a train!" This sentence raised his status a lot immediately, because among this group of children, he was the only one who had the qualifications to say this.Of course, everyone has seen the train, but they have never been on it. There is a fundamental difference between "seen" and "been on". The telegraph poles all ran to the back.”

This remark made them unheard of, and they all opened their mouths in a daze, not daring to believe it, nor did they dare to openly oppose it. Now Nan Xing sees how superior his status is, and feels a little uneasy in his heart, as if he is used to being confused, it is very uncomfortable to be admired suddenly.So he pulled his mouth with both hands, and made the most horrible and ridiculous grimace. At this time, everyone seemed to be under Nan Xing's magic power, and quickly pulled their hands to make faces, and everyone felt that their faces were not as scary and ridiculous as Nan Xing's.

After all, it was Xiaopo who was courageous and not easy to give in. He told Nan Xing face to face that he didn't understand why the trees and electric poles all moved back. "Look," Nan Xing was a little doubtful at the moment, whether what he just said was correct.But the words have already been spoken, so it is not easy to change his words: "Look, for example, this is a train." He picked up Xiaopo's train and held it in his hand: "You are the people, horses and trees on both sides of the train, you all stand up !" Everyone stood up as ordered. "Look," Nan Xing said, "this is the train." As soon as the train left, he ran forward a few steps: "You guys feel like you're going backwards!" He ran a few steps forward, turned around and asked, " Do you feel like stepping back?"

Everyone shook their heads together! Nan Xing blushed, and stammered, "Come on! Come on! Let's all be the train. Look at the trees and houses on both sides that won't go back!" They lined up in two rows, with Nanxing as the locomotive, "Gate!", and walked around the garden. "Did you see everything receding?" Nan Xing asked, actually he didn't feel that they were receding, but he was sorry not to ask. "No! No!" Everyone shouted in unison.The two Malay girls said in a low voice, "We saw the leaves move, but maybe it's because of the wind!"

"Anyway, I've been on a train before!" Nan Xing had nothing to say, so he had to add something like this. "He's talking nonsense," two Malay chicks secretly said to Xianpo, "we've ridden in a bullock cart, and we haven't seen anything going backwards." Bullock carts and trains are all cars, so Xianpo naturally believes that Nanxing is spreading rumors.Sanduo thought: Maybe the trees and houses are afraid that the train will hit them, so they hide behind, which seems close to reason; but he dare not express his opinion.Seeing that everyone was still in two lines and had nothing to do, he said, "Let's join the army and play!"

Everyone just couldn't think of an idea, and they were happy to have something to do, so they all put their hands to their mouths and started blowing the trumpets.While blowing the trumpet, Nan Xing raised his ducks to the top, and walked away with a puff.Everyone also followed behind.Xiaopo pulled up a piece of three-coloured grass and stuck it in his waist as a sword; he picked up a bamboo pole and rode it on as a horse; he flaunted his might as an officer. "No! No! Stop!" Xiaopo immediately ordered: "Everyone blows the trumpet, and it's okay if there are no soldiers with guns?"

All the troops stood still and discussed who would blow the trumpet and who should be the soldiers behind. The result of the discussion: Everyone was willing to play the trumpet. Nan Xing said that he could not play the trumpet, but he must be allowed to play the big drum. "We can't all blow the trumpet!" Xiaopo's attitude was very firm: "So, let the little girls play the trumpet first, and we will follow behind as soldiers. Then we will blow the trumpet and tell them to follow. Is this fair or not?" Xiaopo's method has two advantages: respect for women and fairness.Of course everyone agrees.So led by Xianpo, they all put their hands to their mouths and began to blow.

However, the soldiers behind all put their hands to their mouths and blew. "Put your hands down!" Xiao Po shouted to them. They put their hands down, but they were still beeping and blowing, and it was much louder than the band in front of them.Xiaopo wanted to punish one of them as a warning.But, he listened carefully, well, he himself was blowing quite loudly. After walking for a while, Xiaopo ordered to change shifts. The man ran to the front, and the woman retreated to the back. Everyone still spoke out together, and no one would rest.Xiaopo originally thought that little girls were easy to restrain, but now little girls are more concerned about freedom and equality.

"Everyone is willing to play the trumpet," Xiaopo said to everyone after getting on the horse, "Let's sing back together as soon as we are finished!" Singing is more enjoyable than blowing the trumpet, and it can save the trouble of changing shifts back and forth. Everyone applauded. "Stand in a circle, and I'll sing as soon as I raise the bamboo pole." Xiaopo raised the bamboo pole—that is, the big horse he was riding just now—and everyone sang. Some sang Malay songs, some sang Indian songs, some sang Chinese songs, some sang Cantonese operas, some couldn't sing and yelled at their necks, Nanxing could only say: "Gate!"

Ah yell, door! ——Hey, drink, door! ——Oh, it's so ugly, the birds on the tree were scared away, the kitten Erxi also ran away quickly, and the neighbors' puppies barked at the same time, and their own ears were almost deafened. Xiaopo suddenly remembered: Chen's mother was sleeping upstairs, if she was woken up, she would definitely speak ill of him to her mother.He quickly raised the bamboo pole and told everyone to stop.They are singing happily, but they are willing to stop; if they keep singing (or should be said, "yelling"), their voices will become louder and more unpleasant.The singing stopped automatically when everyone's mouths were dry and smoke was coming out of their throats.After the stop, Nan Xing made up three or four "doors!—" so that two Malay chicks said: If the train belonged to their family, they would definitely install a big gramophone on the locomotive instead of the siren—— The ugliest thing in the world!

Fortunately, Mama Chen was sure about sleeping, and she never woke up; Xiaopo calmed down a little. After a short break, everyone asked each other: "What did you sing just now?" "Did you listen to me?" "I don't know what I'm singing. I didn't hear you singing at all!" Everyone replied so rudely. Everyone didn't think there was anything wrong with such an answer. Originally, singing was meant to be "sung", who cares whether others listen or not. Nothing to do again!Some slapped their foreheads, some pressed their hearts, some lifted their skirts, some pulled their ears, everyone was thinking of ideas.Originally there were many ideas, but when it came time to think about them, none of them showed up.After thinking for a long time, everyone began to ask each other: "What do you think we should do?" "Shall we 'knock down'?" Xiaopo proposed. "What do you mean by 'beating down'?" Everyone rushed forward and asked. According to Xiaopo's experience, no matter what kind of meeting is held, if the speaker wants to get people to applaud him, he must say two words-down.No matter what kind of meeting is held, if the people listening to the lecture want to clap their hands, they must hear two words - down.For example, if the principal is welcome in the school, when the student representative shouts down, everyone applauds.For example, let's hold a wedding, and when the witnesses say down, there will be thunderous applause.This is not to say that they welcome the headmaster and want to beat him out; they celebrate the marriage and beat the bride and groom at the same time; this is just a sign that demands applause. This is not only the case in social meetings, but also in Xiaopo's school.The students in the third grade shouted down, the little girls in the second grade also shouted down, and the fat boys in the kindergarten also shouted down.The husband will not leave school when the time is not up, knock him down.The meal my mother made was not delicious, so I fell down.It seems that their whole life is dedicated to "defeating", and everyone should be overthrown except themselves.The most ridiculous thing was that Xiaopo could see that everyone was shouting "Down", but he had never seen anyone actually knocking anyone down.What's even more strange is: if you don't really fight, people really won't fall.Xiaopo didn't admire this group of people who only really yelled but didn't really do anything. Xiaopo's plan is: to move a small stool as a podium, and stand on it alone as a speaker.As soon as he shouted down, someone stood up below and asked, "Are you going to knock me down?"The people on the stage nodded, jumped off the stage immediately, and beat up the person who questioned him.If the speaker wins, he will go up to the stage and call for defeat, and then someone from the audience will challenge him.If he loses, the victor will go up to the stage and shout down.Proceed in this way, and see who can knock down the most in the end, and whoever wins; then everyone will give him a little prize. Before Nan Xing could finish speaking, he had already clenched his fists, waiting to knock down those who shouted.The two little Indians also punched their chests twice in preparation for the battle.Sanduo also took off the summer cool silk gown and handed it to his younger sister. When the two Malay girls heard that they were going to fight, they were so frightened that they cried.Although Xianpo is more courageous, he declares that it is unfair for men and women to fight.The little Indian girl advocated: If it is necessary to beat, then three women should beat one man, and women can bite the man's ear.Sanduo's younger sister didn't say anything, but thought: when everyone was about to huddle together, she would cover her brother's gown on her head and hide it among the flowers. Although Nan Xing was very ferocious, when he heard them want to bite his ears, he couldn't help muttering in his heart: If he had seventy or eighty ears, it wouldn't be a big deal to bite off one half.But one person only has two—he touched his ears, and there was indeed only one pair! ——If you bite them all down, wouldn't your head become a bald ball!He looked at Xiaopo like an idiot, Xiaopo had an idea after all: women should not join the battle group, just sit at a distance and applaud them. Everyone is in favor of this approach.The woman sat on one side, waiting for the applause.Xiaopo brought a small low stool, fearing that Nanxing would snatch it from him, he immediately jumped on it. As soon as Xiaopo's lips moved, Nan Xing rushed over; he thought Xiaopo was going to say "down".Unexpectedly, Xiaopo didn't say that, he really looked like a speaker, pointing to the sky: "Everyone! Brother is here today" (with Xianpo here, he naturally wants to call himself brother, although he often listens to people's speeches Sometimes he called himself "brother".) "To--down!" "Are you going to defeat me?" The four heroes below shouted together. Xiaopo originally advocated fighting one by one, but when he saw everyone came together, it was obviously too brave to preside over the original discussion.So he shouted loudly: "That's right! I'm going to beat you!" It doesn't matter if you shout, it's like dismantling a hornet's nest. Everyone roared and rushed forward. The two little Indians had quick legs, and when they came over, each of them grabbed Xiaopo's arm.When Nan Xing came up, he hugged his leg.Sanduo rounded his fist and hit himself on the head, knocking himself down.Xiaopo stretched out his arms desperately, and at the same time stretched his feet apart, trying not to ask Nan Xing to hug him. Xianpo saw that it was unfair to beat one out of three, so he grabbed a handful of leaves and threw them on Nan Xing's back; but it didn't help, because beating someone with leaves doesn't hurt.The two Malay girls were frightened, they covered their eyes and peeped out through their fingers, and they could see very clearly.The little Indian girl patted the soles of the feet with her hands, encouraging them to beat hard.Sanduo's younger sister saw her brother beat her by herself, so she rode on him and called him a scalper. Xiaopo was really capable. He swung forward and backward, twisted left and right, and finally pulled out his arm.Nan Xing kept his head down, focused on his legs, and ignored a few punches on his head, as if he had given his head to someone else.He was originally holding Xiaopo's leg, but after moving back and forth several times, for some unknown reason, the leg he was holding turned black.Well, if you make a mistake, you will make a mistake, anyway, it is the same for anyone who falls, and with a hard effort, Little India was knocked down.The two rolled into a ball, and even their hands tripped Xiaopo.So the four people rolled all over the ground, and no one could tell which one belonged to their own hands and feet and which belonged to others; While beating, Nan Xing changed his strategy: he used his fat fingers to drill into the itchy flesh of people's pinch sockets and thighs.Everyone followed this new tactic, oops!What an itch!They all fell to the ground, weeping from laughing, unable to continue fighting.As soon as the laughter stopped, another finger appeared on the ribs, so I had to hold my stomach and laugh again.As soon as he took a breath, he was poked again on the sole of his foot, and suddenly laughed cleverly.The little girls also saw that it was cheap, and they all came over and used their little fingers, like a group of small caterpillars, itching out, tickling out, scratching on their chest ribs.They rolled all over the floor, begging all over their mouths. "Who won?" Sanduo suddenly shouted. Everyone suddenly got up, holding their stomachs and gasping for breath. Just after breathing, everyone shouted: "I won!" "Xianpo, please give me the prize!" Xiaopo said. Xianpo muttered with the two Malay girls for a long time, then she got on the small stool, holding a piece of orange peel in her hand, and said: "Here is a topaz, as a prize. We think," she glanced at the two Malay girls, "this prize should be given to Sanduo!" "Why? It doesn't make sense!" they asked together. "Because:" Xianpo said calmly, "He beat himself up by himself, which is better than you guys who beat him up once. After he beat himself up, he still cheated on his sister as a scalper, which is better than you." She turned her face away. Said to Sanduo: "This is a precious stone, very delicate, you can hold it carefully, don't touch it!" Sanduo took the gem, and the little girls applauded together. "It's not fair!" cried the two little Indians. "I don't understand!" Nan Xing shouted. "Give me half!" Xiaopo said to Sanduo, and then hurriedly picked up his sister: "I love my sister too. If you are a scalper, why don't you give me half?" When Nan Xing saw it, he immediately crawled on the ground and asked the little Indian girl to ride him: "Give me half too!" The two little Indians hurriedly picked up the two Malay chicks. Sanduo's younger sister said on Sanduo's back: "No way! It's too late!" "Stop playing!" Nan Xing was very angry. "Don't play anymore? That's fine! You have to carry us home!" said the little girls. Each of them carried a little girl on their backs, and said goodbye to Xiaopo brothers and sisters and went home.
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